15 US Cities With the Most Overpriced Restaurants, According to Customer Reviews

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Dining out is a luxury that we may know is financially draining, but one we just refuse to give up. In 2023, Americans spent about $328 per month on meals away from home. Online review sites like Yelp make it easy for us to find restaurants to spend at — just as they make it easy for us to talk a big talk when they don’t meet our expectations.

One major gripe we may have? The feeling that the place was overpriced. This poor impression seems to be experienced among patrons in some cities more than others. 

Preply, an online language-learning marketplace, conducted a language analysis of 57,245 Google reviews of over 10,000 restaurants in the top 50 major U.S. cities. It then identified the most overpriced restaurants across the nation, according to online reviews. Below are the top 15.

GOBankingRates found the average cost of living and the cost of groceries in each of these cities, using data from RentCafe or, in the case of Virginia Beach, AreaVibes. Cost of living data was sourced from Payscale.

Also find out the most expensive restaurants in the U.S.

15. San Francisco

• Overpriced score: 76.31  
• Cost of living, as compared to the national average: 70% higher  
• Cost of groceries: 23% higher 

14. Fort Worth, Texas

• Overpriced score: 76.85  
• Cost of living, as compared to the national average: 4% lower  
• Cost of groceries: 1% lower

13. Seattle

• Overpriced score: 77.31  
• Cost of living, as compared to the national average: 46% higher  
• Cost of groceries: 14% higher

12. Sacramento

• Overpriced score: 77.77  
• Cost of living, as compared to the national average: 25% higher  
• Cost of groceries: 8% higher

11. Baltimore 

• Overpriced score 77.84  
• Cost of living, as compared to the national average: 10% lower  
• Cost of groceries: 4% higher

10. Omaha, Nebraska

• Overpriced score: 77.98 
• Cost of living, as compared to the national average: 7% lower  
• Cost of groceries: 1% lower

9. Tucson, Arizona 

• Overpriced score: 77.66  
• Cost of living, as compared to the national average: 4% higher  
• Cost of groceries: 6% higher

8. Boston

• Overpriced score: 79.73  
• Cost of living, as compared to the national average: 46% higher  
• Cost of groceries: 5% higher  

7. Mesa, Arizona 

• Overpriced score: 80.84  
• Cost of living, as compared to the national average: 3% higher  
• Cost of groceries: 4% higher 

6. Colorado Springs 

• Overpriced score: 81.52  
• Cost of living, as compared to the national average: 5% higher  
• Cost of groceries: 3% higher 

5. Fresno, California

• Overpriced score: 81.61  
• Cost of living, as compared to the national average: 9% higher  
• Cost of groceries: 5% higher

4. Washington, D.C.

• Overpriced score: 84.11  
• Cost of living, as compared to the national average: 39% higher 
• Cost of groceries: 10% higher

3. Virginia Beach 

• Overpriced score: 84.68  
• Cost of living, as compared to the national average: 16% higher  
• Cost of groceries: N/A

2. San Jose, California

• Overpriced score: 85.72  
• Cost of living, as compared to the national average: 78% higher  
• Cost of groceries: 15% higher

1. Oakland, California

• Overpriced score: 86.28  
• Cost of living, as compared to the national average: 40% higher 
• Cost of groceries: 16% higher

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